Ghostcrawler: "LFD with harder dungeons and NO LFR"

[Jaylock]

I completely agree with his statement on the way they should have taken instead of making dungeons easy snooze fests, and bringing the abysmal LFR into the game.

The game lost its sense of identity when they brought these two features into the game. Players wanted the ability to find other players quicker than spam trade chat for 2 hours. THATS ALL. The repercussions that happened was a result of community reaction to the difficulty.

Had blizzard stuck to their guns and kept dungeon difficulty high, and evolved the match making system and not the difficulty of the dungeons, I believe there would be less burn out and less player turnover that we have now.

Greg Street has it completely right. LFD with harder dungeons and no LFR is the best way to go.

Do you agree with Ghostcrawler? I sure as hell do.

EDIT:
It seems as though some people are getting caught up on the phrase that Greg said before he made this statement:

"If you put a gun to my head, [I would have chosen] LFD with harder dungeons and No LFR."

I will now quote a fellow poster:

It just means "If I have to give you my personal opinion" in this context. Its like someone asking you which friend you like the most, of course you may not want to answer for professional reasons, but if you had too, yeah, this is how you honestly feel at this point. I don't see how that would deter from anything he said at all.

To back up PuffyPussy22, it doesn't change at all how he truly feels. He felt that LFR was bad for the game and should never have been implemented. He felt that dungeons should have always been harder. He felt that the LFD tool should have only been there to group players together, and thats it. There is NO other context that can be derived to which he made that statement.

[Doctor Amadeus]

No LFR was the better way to go.

[pfbe]

You left out the "gun to the head" part. Testimony under duress is not admissible.

Therefore, Ghostcrawler still holds the world record for being the worst thing to have ever happened to WoW. Sorry, Holinka, you'll have to try harder.

Yes, I am being facetious.

[Etrock08]

I enjoy the way we look for mythic dungeons. All we really need is that list. And maybe an auto teleport to the dungeon entrance.

[freddy090909]

Having an automated way of making groups is fine, in my opinion. However, treating LFR as a "tourist" mode is bad. I'd much rather see normal be removed and let LFR fill the gap. Let it drop relevant items and have actual difficulty. In turn, get people watching 2 minute tips or at least reading the dungeon journal to prepare for the slightly harder raid (determination or some kind of "normalization" like in PvP could exist to make sure people could complete the content in a timely manner).

[roahn the warlock]

People wonder why all people do is raid, when the rest of the content is a snooze fest

[oldgeezer]

YES. The game would just be far better.

No. Subs would drop even faster. Not a good idea to Wildstar the game at this point. That boat sailed in 2007.

[Accendor]

Yes, Greg Street is completely right.

[Calfredd]

Did anyone else notice the "Gun to the head" part of his answer?

[Jaylock]

No. Subs would drop even faster. Not a good idea to Wildstar the game at this point. That boat sailed in 2007.

I disagree. If people knew the expectation for raiding was that you needed to get into a group through the new group builder tool, and had to have a little bit of skill (normal is the equivalent of FLEX difficulty in MoP, which was really doable on a very very casual basis), then I believe players would get less burned out and actually have something to plan for and look forward to. Right now, because LFR is in the game, it coddles players (much like flying) into doing it because its the easiest option and the path of least resistance.

[Antilurker77]

Because the OP loves taking things out of context:

real talk: LFD and LFR, ultimately, at the end of the day, all is said and done, bad for a game?
I still don't know. (OccupyGStreet)
If you put a gun to my head I'd say LFG with harder dungeons and no LFR. But it's a crap shoot. (OccupyGStreet)
Easyish Naxx and LK dungeons set expectations that were hard to ever undo. Maybe LFG was just a symptom at that point. (OccupyGStreet)

is the irrevocability of a feature a big part of the design decision or is it more if a hindsight is 20/20 thing?
For a live game (like LoL/WoW) you always have to think about the precedents you set. It's like being a SCOTUS judge. (OccupyGStreet)

I wasn't paying attention during the Cata difficulty outrage--would it have been possible to soldier through?
Yes. Better would have been to provide an alternative for those who didn't enjoy wiping. (OccupyGStreet)

-------------------------------------------------

I disagree. If people knew the expectation for raiding was that you needed to get into a group through the new group builder tool, and had to have a little bit of skill (normal is the equivalent of FLEX difficulty in MoP, which was really doable on a very very casual basis), then I believe players would get less burned out and actually have something to plan for and look forward to. Right now, because LFR is in the game, it coddles players (much like flying) into doing it because its the easiest option and the path of least resistance.

Most WoW players are too terrible even for Flex/Normal. It's the sad truth.

[Daffan]

LFR = Let's people see the content. That's good. However, it also lets people skip content - that's bad.

Harder dungeons = GOOD GOOD. IT makes them last longer, be more interesting. Just in general way more epic. You get more enjoyment out of things that are harder to beat, it's more of rewarding achievement.

Keep LFD = Sure, it's only for finding people and you can still friend them - The big problem was that when LFD came out they had to nerf dungeons so the bronze Proving ground plebs (an example, as PG was not available back then) could do them.

People wonder why all people do is raid, when the rest of the content is a snooze fest

Yeeeeeeep. Everything but HFC right now is zerg fest imo. Going through motions with no real thought is booooring.

[Imnick]

He said that after saying, "I still don't know."
It's not a solid or confident decision (he said "if I had to pick something or be killed), and one made by someone who would no longer be particularly effected by the consequences.

[Darsithis]

LFR saved raiding. LFR gave them a reason to develop content that was previously seen by such a small amount of the playerbase it's a wonder they kept raiding in as long as they did.

[SpecterDK]

I agree. I enjoy hard dungeons including mythics and CMs. Any time I set foot in LFR it makes me hate the game. I think the game would be healthier if LFR didn't exist and maybe normal was slightly easier as the "tourist mode".

- - - Updated - - -

LFR saved raiding. LFR gave them a reason to develop content that was previously seen by such a small amount of the playerbase it's a wonder they kept raiding in as long as they did.

Naxx 10 in wrath had high levels of participation.

[Deleted]

He's basically saying what most WoW devs would be saying if there wasn't any consequences for it.
My favorite part is that he regrets nerfing HC dungeons in Cataclysm. God I loved those dungeons.

I do hope he won't get in any trouble with the current WoW devs for speaking his mind like this however.

[Addict]

real talk: LFD and LFR, ultimately, at the end of the day, all is said and done, bad for a game?
I still don't know. (OccupyGStreet)
If you put a gun to my head I'd say LFG with harder dungeons and no LFR. But it's a crap shoot. (OccupyGStreet)
Easyish Naxx and LK dungeons set expectations that were hard to ever undo. Maybe LFG was just a symptom at that point. (OccupyGStreet)

Felt it was needed to be added since the OP seemed to have left some context out.

[Tharkkun]

Jaylock will not be satisfied until dungeons are harder and you can't queue for them. Which will never happen.

[Jaylock]

You left out the "gun to the head" part. Testimony under duress is not admissible.

Therefore, Ghostcrawler still holds the world record for being the worst thing to have ever happened to WoW. Sorry, Holinka, you'll have to try harder.

Yes, I am being facetious.

Thats how he really feels. If everything was out on the table, all the pros and cons, he would have chosen harder dungeons, keep LFD, NO LFR. I agree with him.

[grexly75]

What I find funny is that every man and his dog lambasted GC and how they hated him so much during his time with Blizz.. Now that he is not with Blizz everything he says now seems to matter a lot and that everyone who once hated him can't get enough of him now..

But the funny thing is how there was a massive sub drop at the start of Cata and most people blamed the too hard dungeons, and Blizz brought out the nerf bat fast.. I am really wondering if people know what they really want..